Wärtsilä to supply Africa’s largest gas engine power plant to Cameroon
Lehtikuva/Pekka SakkiWärtsilä, a Finnish leader in flexible decentralised power generation solutions, has signed a contract to supply and install Africa's largest gas engine power plant to the Republic of Cameroon. The power plant will be located in Kribi sea port on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. The gas engine power plant will be supplied as a turnkey project. The value of the order is approximately 120 million euros.
The order was placed by Kribi Power Development Company (KPDC), an affiliate of AES Corporation. Wärtsilä will supply dual-fuel engines that will run primarily on gas. The power plant, which is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2011, will generate electricity for the national grid.
The new power plant will help Cameroon to diversify its power generation, which is currently based mainly on hydro-power. The added capacity will enable the closing of some of the country's old, inefficient thermal power plants, which means that the environmental impact of the country's electricity generation will be reduced, including harmful emissions.
The power plant is expected to create more than 500 jobs in the region. The project is a continuation of the December 2009 inauguration of the 86 megawatt Dibamba power plant in Yassa, Cameroon. Upon completion of the Kribi power plant the total power output of Wärtsilä engines in Cameroon will be nearly 450 megawatts.
Comments (7)